Sterner to deliver multiple RAS plants for Indian fish farms

The largest Norwegian-owned supplier in large water treatment systems has signed the company’s biggest contract ever.

Sterner will deliver four complete RAS plants for a large-scale land-based project in India. Sterner and Indian Omega Aqua signed a letter of intent yesterday for the construction of the facilities during a business seminar in New Dehli.

The agreement was signed in connection with Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s two-day official visit to the country.

“The first contact with Omega Aqua we had was three years ago, but it has only been in the last two years that there have been concrete negotiations. We decided to sign it officially during the seminar,” said CEO Bjarne Pettersen to SalmonBusiness.

It was the publication NTB who first reported on the agreement.

Multi-million
The contract is the largest ever for Sterner, according to Pettersen, who does not precise the contract’s value.

Total investment at the four plants for phase one will cost around USD 75 million. Authorities in India will provide 30 per cent of the costs for the project.

Construction is to start by summer this year with the completion of all facilities by 2021.

Each of the plants will initially have an annual production capacity of 1000 tonnes, to be expanded to 20,000 upon completion. Two of the facilities, which will be located in Northern India, are for Himalayan Rainbow Trout. Two others in South and East India are for Barramundi.

Need for access to seafood
In a press release, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Omega Aqua, Shyam Mohan, said that the company aims to be “the leading producer of onshore fish in India within five years, and within ten years to be recognised as a producer and supplier on a global level.”

Omega Aqua is a big player in India’s food industry, but needs access to seafood, which is why the plants are being built.